DWD's Reviews

Tony - where's your editorial staff when you need them? Honestly, I like Tony Brown. I enjoyed his PBS show. I used to listen to him on the radio when I could on WLS in Chicago. But, his books are not nearly as good as I know they can be! What Mama Taught Me: The Seven Core Values of Life  deals with his "Mama", a woman who took him in when he was a baby and his mother was neglecting him. She was not a blood relative, just a woman who saw a baby starving to death due to neglect. He lived with her until her death when he was 12. This book is an attempt on his part to honor her and the simple wisdom she taught him. The Seven Core Values are: 1. Reality: The Value of Being Yourself. 2. Knowledge: The Value of understanding your purpose 3. Race: The Value of honoring your humanity (In this case, the only race his Mama was worried about was worried about was the human race) 4. History: The value of investing in the future 5. Truth: the value of being true to...

This book is up and down with an absolutely bizarre middle. Originally published in 1997. As you may know, I taught for 7 years in an inner-city middle school. The issue of race in America came up daily, and some days it was an ever-present feature. I was forced to think about it all of the time and all I know is that I don't know enough to solve the issues and no one ever will. Nevertheless, on occasion I am moved to visit these issues again. This book seemed to be as good a place as any. Tony Brown is a Black man (he prefers that term) who has hosted a PBS discussion show called "Tony Brown's Journal" for years. He also hosts a Saturday talk show on WLS 890 AM out of Chicago that can be heard throughout the Midwest thanks to their high wattage broadcast strength. He is an interesting man and a good discussion leader on his shows. His views were fairly consistent with my own, although I think that his perceptions of white america are a little off, just as ...